


Sick Leave

by EvangelineWhite



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvangelineWhite/pseuds/EvangelineWhite
Summary: Nothing would stop the Marauders from visiting their most beloved friend, even if it meant breaking Hope Lupin's rules.
Relationships: Hope Lupin/Lyall Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	Sick Leave

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is the first time that I'm posting a oneshot here. She was inspired by the wonderful art of the beautiful IggieDraws. If you wanna see her work just follow her on insta @iggiedraws
> 
> The link to her art that inspired this oneshot is this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/CA6Ru9tD7DA/
> 
> As English is not my native language, I apologize for any mistakes and I am always accepting suggestions for improvement!
> 
> The oneshot is an alternative universe. I hope you have fun!

The Lupins' home wasn’t the fanciest, nor the largest in the neighborhood. There was no expensive furniture or anything that would make it interesting enough for her neighbors to snoop on. In fact, it was the last house of an ordinary street, so far from the others that it almost seemed to be part of woods surrounding the city. It was not a place that would normally catch the attention of three weird and determined teenagers.

But there they were. Standing in front of the high parapet, hands on hips and smiles that could frighten the devil. James and Sirius exchanged complicit looks as Peter turned on his mother's old camera and pointed it to a window in the house.

“I see him” Peter smiled, pressing the zoom button as far as the camera allowed. “He's sitting at the window, studying.”

“He doesn't stop being a nerd even when he's sick, does he?” James laughed, hanging on to Peter trying to see any movement. “It will be easier this way. Do you have the package, Pads?”

“Always, my dear Prongs” Sirius opened a mischievous smile, tapping the little bag tied around his waist. “There's a place on the side of the house that you can break into. I went through there the first time I came to see Moony.”

“And you still wonder why Mr. Lupin doesn't like you.”

Sirius shrugged, muttering something about not being valued. His courtship with Remus was recent, but visits to the Lupins were not. He still remembered the first time in that house: the climb over the wall, the ugly tumble on the flower bed, Lyall showing up with a shotgun and Hope not knowing whether to laugh or to help Sirius escape from a tragic end in the hands of a man with zero sense of fashion or social behavior. Those were Sirius' dream in-laws.

As expected from the Lupin family, nothing had changed in the house. They were not wealthy to waste and everyone seemed to enjoy the minimalist life very much. Sirius found this detail about Remus and Hope quite charming. Lyall, as always, was the family freak who looked like he had a torture chamber in the basement. And, of course, it just made Sirius get more attached to his father-in-law ("you remind me of the good people in my old family," he sighed next to Lyall, who just grimaced before asking if Sirius’ last screws went loose).

“It's right there, let's climb the tree and then jump over the old fence. There's room to go down to the garden.”

“Climb?” Peter swallowed, pressing the camera closer to his chest. “Why do we need to climb? We could go through the front door.”

James rolled his eyes, slapping Peter on the head.

“Sure, let's just knock on the door and say ‘hello Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, don't mind us, we're just here to break all of the rules you imposed for your son’s health and rub ourselves at Moony who happens to have the black plague. By the way, I loved the new frame in the room”.

Peter pressed his lips together for a few seconds.

“Do they have a new photo frame?”

With silence as a response to Peter, they followed the path indicated by Sirius.

Well, this is what happened to Remus: the boy was rarely sick, even with all the crappy chocolate he ate. It seemed that being tough was a feature of the Lupin family. So, when one of them got sick, it was _ugly_. Remus had been working part-time at a small children's play center, and unfortunately, one of the kids had decided to pass on all possible viruses and bacteria to him.

Three days later, Remus was showing strong signs of what Hope called “The Child Flu Curse” and had banned Remus from stepping outside or from being visited. And obviously, staying a week away from your favorite nerd was too difficult a task for the Marauders.

Planted in the thick branches of the immense tree, the trio saw the house as the mission of the century. Yes, they liked Hope and Lyall very much, but honestly, when did they ever abide to anyone’s rules?

“Let's jump”, Sirius whispered, pointing to the rail. “See? There is an iron rod missing. You can jump and then go down to the ground. Come on.”

“After you, mate.”

Sirius was the first. James always liked to point out how Sirius looked like a cat whenever they had to be sneaky, because he got that characteristic eye roll from Sirius. Padfoot was a dog person, after all.

“Wormtail, you better come to my branch”, James whispered to his friend, extending his hand. “I'll take the camera. It's very easy to jump, just watch Sirius and I.”

“But-”

And there went James, following Sirius' step by step. The pair had managed, without much work, to step on the smooth metal, and then slide down the fence and roll onto the lawn. Between James and Sirius it was difficult to say who was the most skilled; Peter, however, was a complicated case. As soon as he received the positive sign from James and Sirius, he snuck between the branches, almost slipping to pass from one to the other.

“He's going to kill himself”, Sirius murmured, with a frown of concern. “He'll kill himself and we'll have to hide a body in a cop's yard.”

“Shut up Pads, he needs moral support” James nudged Sirius with his elbow, although he was equally concerned. He was rotating Pettigrew with impatience between his fingers. “Go Peter, just jump!”

“But this is high” Peter whimpered. “Maybe I should wait outside and let you know if someone shows up...”

“Stop being a coward, Wormtail! It's like p.e class at school! A simple jump!”

“But, I never did well in that class!”

James had to agree with that statement. His eyes darted around the garden looking for something to help Peter have more confidence, but with the noise coming from the house, Sirius pushed his friend aside and focused on Peter.

“Wormy, I swear if we get caught now, I will hang you by your feet on the flagpole at school!”

Sirius didn't like using angry threats with friends, but damn it! He wanted to see Remus before they were arrested. Literally arrested - Lyall was a very determined cop.

“But Padfoot-”

“Just jump in, Pettigrew!”

“The height…!”

The noise increased, and it seemed to be accompanied by voices.

“Jump now!” James rushed him.

“Prongs, I don’t-”

“JUMP, PETER!”

Peter jumped. And then...

_BOOM._

Lyall would surely have searched the garden for the suspicious noise and the strangely high-pitched scream if, at the same time that Peter was crashing on the floor, Hope hadn't dropped a huge box full of wood and porcelains.

“For God's sake, Hope” Lyall lifted his wife in his arms to get her out of the mess. “I told you to let me take the box.”

“I didn't want you to be late for work” she mumbled with a grimace at her broken material. “I hope there’s something left intact. These porcelains were so expensive.”

“I hope nothing cut your skin” Lyall shook his head with a sigh, not avoiding a small smile when looking at his wife's beak. With a tender kiss on her forehead, he hugged her by the shoulders, pulling her away from the mess. “I'll help you clean up when I get back, if you want. But if you need to pick something up again, wait for me or ask Remus for help.”

Hope grumbled that she would take care of the cleaning while Lyall laughed. They would never know which one was more stubborn, but that was exactly what made the relationship work.

“Is everything okay over here?”

Remus asked at the entrance of the hall. The house they lived in was tall and divided by a few steps between the rooms and the corridor. He never understood why Lyall and Hope chose something like that, but he didn't complain – out of all the houses where they had lived in, this was the only one in which he had his own room.

"Yes, dear" Hope replied, covering her face with the sleeve of her shirt. “It was just an accident. Go back to your room now.”

Both Lyall and Remus gave Hope a mocking smile, both raising their eyebrows at the same time. As much as people said that Remus was identical to his mother in many ways (in study and chocolate addiction, mainly), Hope knew that the most subtle antics came entirely from Lyall. Which was very irritating for her when she was at a disadvantage.

“What? Child flu is contagious! I don't want to be sicker than I already am.”

“Mom, I’m fin-”

And a loud, painful sneeze made Remus's argument go down the drain.

“I'm going to work” Lyall laughed, kissing Hope again as Remus crawled back into the bedroom. “Go down to the basement to continue your work and leave the mess here. I'll help later.”

“It's not a basement, Lyall. It's my natural medicine studio.”

Upon getting that same mischievous smile, Hope pushed her husband to the door, avoiding any little jokes she knew would come. She would probably end up cleaning it all by herself, but now she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to mourn the death of her favorite porcelain set.

“I think I broke my leg.”

“I think you broke _my ribs_ , Peter. Get off!”

Sirius pushed Peter, who whimpered while massaging his knee. He believed faithfully that some bone had pierced his kidney, and if he were dying, Sirius would make sure to come back from hell just to drag Wormtail along.

Peter's jump was good, and he would have managed to hold on to the railing to get down. However, it was clear that the universe wouldn’t cooperate with the unlucky boy, pinning his shirt to the branch and tearing it, which caused him to lose his balance and slip, falling straight over Sirius who heroically tried to hold Peter in his arms.

“Shut up, you two, and move.” James didn't take his eyes off the door. “We'd better run behind the house.”

“We can use Peter as bait,” Sirius murmured, massaging his stomach. “Damn it Wormy, next time mind where your stupid arse falls.”

Peter even tried to open his mouth to answer Sirius with all the indignation in the world, but James was already running towards the house. Peter managed to get up with some difficulty and limp as quickly as possible. Sirius was the last in the row to ensure that there would be no further accidents, and threw himself against the wall in time to hear the sound of someone leaving.

The seconds waiting for Lyall to leave the house seemed the longest of the trio’s life (except, perhaps, the day they had to break into Professor Minerva's office). “All clear” Sirius whispered, and James made a thumbs up sign with his hand. As soon as the gate was closed, the Marauders slipped through the blue worn dyed wall, until they found Remus' white window at the top.

Sirius' heart raced, and his smile spread to the other two friends. They did it. They _really_ did it. In spite of all the adrenaline, the games and the pain, Sirius suddenly seemed to soften up, as if everything that had happened so far was nothing. As if suddenly he was where he should be.

“Hey Rose, your Jack is here to save you from the Titanic! I will draw you as one of my Russian girls.”

The call, although low, had the expected effect. Sirius couldn't see, but from the bedroom, Remus' surprise was replaced by a radiant smile, and his hands had to hold back the laugh as he ran to the window and leaned over to see the faces of the two imbecile friends and the stupidly beautiful boyfriend.

“It's ‘draw me like one of your French girls’, idiot.”

And there it was. If Sirius was feeling good just being at Remus', receiving that smile was enough to make his heart melt in his chest. For a few seconds, the pair just stared at each other, not caring about the world around them.

Well, until James opened his mouth, because James Potter couldn't stand to be silent for more than two minutes.

“How are you, Moony?” He held Sirius to take a picture of Remus, before returning the camera to Peter. “You don't look as dead as your mother said you were.”

“There's no way my face is going to look worse than it already is, Prongs.” Remus laughed at his friends' complaints about his mood, and waved his hand to cut off any sermon. “I'm getting better, but you guys shouldn't be here. Child flu is contagious.”

“Tsc, haven't you learned anything about us, Moons?” Sirius smiled charmingly, and Remus shivered. “No disease brings the Marauders down. That's why we're here, we don't leave one of ours behind.”

“Especially if that rascal is dating a needy, crying dog” James blinked, dodging a slap from Sirius.

Remus put his face in his hands, watching those two try to fight in silence, which seemed to be an almost impossible task. Honestly, he tried to understand how they managed to invade the place, but the thoughts disappeared as quickly as they came into his mind. After all, it was James and Sirius; they got everything they wanted when they were determined. Even if much of that determination was for meant for forbidden stuff.

“It's good to see you” Remus increased his smile, ending the silly fight. “But it is better for you to leave soon, my mother is still at home and she’s worse than my father when she gets angry.”

“We’re not going before delivering your gift.”

“Gift?”

Sirius smiled with satisfaction when he saw Remus' eyes sparkle with curiosity. _Oh_ , he loved to stoke that boy who had a soul as mischievous as the others did. He untied the small package from his pants and held it up for Remus to see the package.

“A gift to go through your isolation in a more _tasty_ _way_.”

Ah, Remus couldn't believe it. He could smell the _sugary perfume_ of all those incredible Honeydukes products, and his belly growled for one product in particular.

“Did you get that chocolate from the little box? The one with the golden wrapping.”

“With pieces of hazelnut, the way you like it” Sirius assured him, puffing out his chest in pride. “And some extremely gay get-well cards we wrote. The best one is from me, of course.”

Peter protested, claiming he had worked really hard to decorate his own card, but Remus laughed again and held out his hand. He could already taste the chocolate in his mouth - and best of all, he wouldn't have to share it with anyone.

“Can you throw the gift? I think I can get it.”

“Throw?! Do you wanna take the risk of shattering the whole arrangement of sweets we made for you?”

Peter scratched his head.

“And how are we going to get this to Remus? We can't climb the wall.”

But neither James nor Sirius were paying attention, because they gave each other _that look_ , and Peter knew something interesting would come - and possibly stupid, according to the words Remus always used.

“Go get your Juliet, Romeo” James made an exaggerated flourish before squatting. “I'll be your cupid today.”

“Oh Prongs” Sirius returned equally dramatic, wrapping his legs around James' shoulders “you will always be my knight in armor, saving me from a life of sadness and loneliness.”

“Gays” Remus leaned against the window to watch the shit they were about to do.

The first two times James tried to lift Sirius, they went almost facedown. It was much easier to do that in the pool, James thought. However, using a lot of stubbornness (and Remus’ very clever suggestion when telling Sirius to put his hands on the wall) James managed to find the balance to lift Sirius.

“Hello, Rapunzel” Sirius opened his best _Sirius Black_ smile, while Remus couldn't stop laughing. “Your prince charming has arrived.”

“Oh, I'm safe” Remus joked before a series of coughs interrupted the couple's clichéd phrase sequence.

Sirius' concern was evident, and even though Remus tried to say he "was fine", Sirius did not avoid touching his face in a soft caress, running his fingers over the scars on his face.

“I'll get better soon” Remus promised in a whisper, closing his eyes as he laid his face on Sirius's hand. “I miss you, Pads.”

“Look who's gay now” Sirius chuckled, putting the gift into Remus' room. “Come back to us, Moony.”

Neither of them could explain the sensation when they were together. It was hot, intense, bursting from the chest and burning the whole body; at the same time, it was pleasant and soothing, so light that they believed they could be together for hours without even moving, and everything would be fine.

Of course, James didn't agree with that statement, hitting Sirius in the ass to get his attention.

“I don't have steel shoulders, man.” James adjusted Sirius' legs. “Speed up there, Romeo. I want to get out of here with my back still in place.”

“Do your job in silence, cupid.” Sirius kicked James in the chest, earning a painful pinch in the thigh in return. “Peter! Don't just stand there with the camera; we brought it for a reason!”

Remus raised his eyebrows, the fiery calm suddenly being replaced by another common feeling when Sirius' name was involved: concern.

“Why did you guys bring a camera? What are you going to do this time?”

“Your lack of confidence in us hurts me, Moonikins” Sirius put his hand on his chest, with the best show of sadness he could do. What he got in return, however, was Remus' look of disbelief. “We have all this work to see your beautiful face and you make that grouchy expression for me? You’ll get me _excited_ like that, Moony.”

James exclaimed.

“Don't you dare have a boner on my neck, Sirius!”

Peter asked James to speak more quietly, but when his friend started to exalt himself that way (and Sirius gave that scandalous laugh) it was difficult to contain him. He then accelerated his movements to turn on the camera.

“Guys! Let's record this epic moment for the album!”

With a sigh of relief, Peter managed to contain the noise that the garden would become. Remus leaned out a little, and Peter raised his camera to catch the four at once.

The first click of the camera made them laugh with their silly poses.

“You better go.” Remus said, stroking Sirius' face. “I'll get better soon, Pads. Be a little patient.”

“Patience was never my forte, Moony.”

“Oh, I know very well. I’m-”

But Remus was unable to finish the sentence, as Sirius' mouth occupied his, and then all that fervor returned, exploding through every vein in his body. It was supposed to be a short goodbye kiss. It shouldn't be more than a peck. But then Sirius' hand was going up Remus' hair and pulling it on the back of his neck, and Remus groaned softly in the middle of the kiss because _ooh_ \- Sirius _knew_ what that did to Remus.

“I came to bring your sick leave” Sirius murmured with a smirk, bringing his other hand into Remus' shirt. Lupin's skin boiled against Sirius's naturally icy fingers, and they both gasped.

And before Sirius could act recklessly and jump into Remus 'room, a second click came along with James' laughter. Sirius felt his body unbalanced when Prongs turned to Peter, in a ridiculous pose for yet another photo.

Later, he would thank his friends for recording that memory. Later, Sirius would laugh out loud while remembering everything that had happened and sharing jokes about that afternoon. Later, he would certainly relive the moment with Remus several times before going to sleep.

But in that minute, all he managed to do was swear loudly until he scared all the birds in the area when James lost his balance, knocking them to the ground at the same time that Peter screamed and Remus tried to hold on to his boyfriend.

No one was able to say what made more noise: the fall or the cursing of Sirius and James in unison.

“Holy shit, James! Did you need to be a sucker right now?!”

“Shut up, Sirius! My head is trying to get back in place.”

The moans of pain from his friends mixed, and Sirius felt that the world would disappear at any moment. The two could not say how they were seated or even how they managed to stand, but there were the two warriors, courageously facing the stupidity so characteristic of the supposed geniuses of mischief.

“Are you okay?!” Remus asked between a coughing fit, leaning out the window.

“I will recover.” Sirius massaged his head, feeling that he would need to get into an ice bath so that swelling throughout his body would not appear.

Peter squeezed James' arms, looking for the source of the blood that stained the red shirt. It was not very easy to find, because, although he was dizzy, the boy was still hyperactive.

“Run from here at once” Remus smiled encouragingly at Sirius, who looked like a needy baby looking for more affection. “Thanks for the gift, guys. You are the best.”

James, who until now jumped in the same place to recover the notion of place and space, froze, wide-eyed.

“Let's go back” Sirius assured Remus. “Keep these words in your mind, Moons.”

“Oh, he'll keep it, because it will be the only thing Remus will have from you, Mr. Black.”

The other three marauders copied James by freezing in place, while Hope Lupin’s fierce gaze clearly said that they wouldn’t go unpunished in that garden.

“You didn't have to be so hard on them.”

Remus smiled at his mother, hours after the trio of friends left. Hope forced them to fix everything that was broken in the house, with a heavy cleaning under her supervision included, and only after almost half an hour of sermon about the risks and idiocy of what they had done. None of the three dared to question Hope, partly because they didn't want to give her any reason for her fragile health to get worse, partly because she really managed to look scary, despite barely hitting the boys' height.

Hope shrugged, grabbing some cookies for Remus.

“At least I gave them some sweet rolls, didn't I? You should take this as a sign of forgiveness.”

Remus held his laughter, thanking him for the cookies.

“And also” Hope took the distance to get the green leaves for tea “I pretended I didn't see it when Sirius went to take care of the garden under your window and took off his shirt. That boy is the height of narcissism.”

“Um, I think the height of narcissism is James. Sirius likes to tease more.”

“I hope that _teasing_ doesn't make you forget about condoms.”

Hope smiled with satisfaction when Remus gasped. It was Lyall's role to make Remus feel uncomfortable daily, but Hope liked to compete with her husband sometimes, even though she had only told Remus the truth. She could have insisted on the matter, but just let Remus sink into his own embarrassment and record the precautions with the " _teaser Sirius_ " in his mind.

“In a few days the flu will pass” Hope spoke again, sweeter this time. “I just hope your boyfriend's fine.”

“Let's find out this week” Remus bit another cookie, leaving the rest to eat with tea. “If you see a funeral parade on the street, it is him announcing that he’s sick.”

The two laughed, Remus more than his mother did. He remembered the moments when Sirius fell ill. It was funny to see all that drama, although in the end Remus always surrendered to the exaggeration and took care of Sirius. It had been that way since he was twelve, and it wouldn't be any different now. And he knew that, had it not been for the flu, his mother would have let Sirius stay.

Well, Remus would charge for the care later, in other ways. And he knew that Sirius would do that too. After that afternoon, he had hanged up the various photos he had gotten from his friends and boyfriend on the wall, each one had little cheesy and kinds statements behind them. Besides it, he laid the piles of sweets that would probably not last too long. 

Sirius was uncontrollable and unpredictable, but Remus did not know a more faithful and loving person.

“Remus, where are you going?” Hope was startled by Remus' sudden leap. “And your tea?”

“Can you take it to my room, please? I have something to do.”

And without waiting for an answer, Remus went back to bed with the same smile as when he saw Sirius' face at his window, picking up his old laptop and opening a video call. Sirius, James and Peter had been stupidly wonderful to break into his home, the least he could do was say thank you for an entire night.

When the first of them answered, Remus felt his heart flutter.

“I thought you died before you got home.” Remus laughed at Sirius's grimace, ignoring the drama that was to come. “My sick leave was useless, I'm still locked up here.”

“Then you'll have to get better soon to _take your medicine_ ” Sirius blinked, earning that smile from Remus that he only saw when they were about to do something naughty together. “I couldn't even say that I love you before I almost died.”

“Maybe that's why life has given you a second chance.”

“I won't waste it this time.”

James and Peter's screens showed up, and Remus couldn't say how much time he spent there, with his friends. He just knew that the more he looked at them, the more he was sure that staying away from those three was no longer an option.

Three days later, Sirius would be found crawling in the Potter's living room, cursed by Remus' contagious flu, and when Euphemia told this to Hope, the pleasure of being right would be almost as great as the concern for the boy. Luckily (in Sirius' view), Remus would also still have the flu, and the two could finally share the same space, between soft covers and Hope's miraculous teas.

After all, when Sirius promised to see his beloved boyfriend again, not even the flu plague would be a hindrance.


End file.
